My poor baby…

Installed Netbeans on my laptop to give it a test drive, and between top and the massive change in performance in flock, I can’t help but think that my system is in pain as it fights with flock for system resources :

last pid:  2235;  load averages:  2.04,  1.50,  1.00    up 0+01:08:22  03:52:09
86 processes: 4 running, 81 sleeping, 1 stopped
CPU: 83.8% user, 0.0% nice, 16.2% system, 0.0% interrupt, 0.0% idle
Mem: 298M Active, 18M Inact, 96M Wired, 12M Cache, 53M Buf, 1888K Free
Swap: 860M Total, 100M Used, 760M Free, 11% Inuse

PID USERNAME THR PRI NICE SIZE RES STATE TIME WCPU COMMAND
2195 Terry 30 44 0 387M 137M ucond 0:00 77.25% java
1498 Terry 1 99 0 715M 139M RUN 25:43 13.87% flock-bin
1358 root 1 44 0 119M 63776K select 1:56 0.00% Xorg
1403 Terry 1 45 0 18616K 4796K select 0:51 0.00% gkrellm
1504 Terry 1 0 0 715M 139M linuxf 0:19 0.00% flock-bin
1500 Terry 1 0 0 715M 139M linuxf 0:04 0.00% flock-bin
1499 Terry 1 44 0 715M 139M select 0:03 0.00% flock-bin
1477 Terry 1 44 0 30940K 6832K select 0:03 0.00% Terminal
1887 Terry 1 44 0 34752K 8020K select 0:02 0.00% xchat
1174 root 1 44 0 3264K 564K select 0:02 0.00% moused
1404 Terry 1 44 0 45900K 2944K select 0:01 0.00% pidgin
1402 Terry 1 44 0 14280K 2256K select 0:00 0.00% fbpanel
1509 Terry 1 0 0 715M 139M linuxf 0:00 0.00% flock-bin
1405 Terry 1 44 0 9080K 1340K select 0:00 0.00% blackbox
1515 Terry 1 0 0 715M 139M linuxf 0:00 0.00% flock-bin
1481 Terry 1 20 0 4640K 0K pause 0:00 0.00%
1399 Terry 1 44 0 8172K 724K select 0:00 0.00% bbkeys

The fact that I’ve got flash7 running in one tab and only a small set of 5 tabs open in flock, ain’t that bad I guess. It seems that my system has almost adapted to this load, because the stats in top have gotten even worse but FreeBSD has gotten almost as responsive as normal when running these programs.

I love my darlin’ Dixie 😉

Yippie-Kay-Yay Micro$oft SFU !!!

Test one: I wonder if Console is a decent replacement for cmd.exe ‘s terminal emulator — It is

Test two: I wonder if the SFU pdksh can do completion? — It can, just had to find the ‘bind’ commands for it

Test three: I wonder if SFU’s pdksh will work with my %PATH% — it did

Problem one: SFU pdksh seems to require the formal name, e.g. ‘foo.exe’ for programs outside of it’s regular path and runwin32’s search path — That’s ok, I don’t mind much and can alias out stuff like flock.

Problem two: Because SFU follows the unix-style of open it, see if there is a she-bang line (e.g. #!/bin/sh) saying what to run it with, else pass it on to the shell…. It feeds .bat files into it’s pdksh unless they are manually executed, e.g. ‘runwin32 cmd /C foo.bat’ — that is bad, several programs I use wrap themselves in ‘batch’ files on Windows and ‘shell’ scripts on Unix.

Problem three: My universal bourne-based shrc (~/.${USER}_shrc) sets itself to the current Bourne-style shell (e.g. sh, bash, ksh-family, zsh) and Operating System (e.g. BSD, Linux, generic Unix) needs to inspect the $SHELL environment variable to determin what shell to set stuff for. — For some odd reason the SFU pdksh doesn’t seem to set SHELL !!!! To top it off, $USER is not set, but at least the Windows var: %USERNAME% is converted to $USERNAME.

Fix for problem one:

$ mkdir /dev/fs/P/bin      # creates P:bin
$ touch binmaker.sh && chmod +x binmaker.sh
$ vi binmaker.sh
#!/bin/sh
BINDIR=/dev/fs/P/bin

for CMD in `echo $PATH | sed 's/:/ /g' | awk '{ print $0 }'`
do
for EXE in `ls $CMD`; do
echo $EXE | grep -E '.*.exe$' > /dev/null &&
ln -s ${CMD}/${EXE} ${BINDIR}/`echo $EXE | sed 's/.exe$//g'` && echo "made link for: ${CMD}/$EXE"
done
done

$ ./binmaker.sh
.... # symlinks all foo.exe in $PATH to /dev/fs/P/bin/foo

Fix for problem two:

Launch a new session of cmd.exe through windows (e.g. not via SFU; use the run dialog, start menu, or desktop /or quicklaunch icon).

U:Terry> echo %PATH% > mypath.win

Return to SFU korn shell (pdksh):

$ touch batmaker.sh && chmod +x batmaker.sh
$ vi batmaker.sh

#!/bin/sh
BINDIR=/dev/fs/P/bin

make_wrapper() {
[ -e $2 ] && return # file exists, no wrapper needed
local MYFILE=`basename $2`
cd $BINDIR && [ ! -e $MYFILE ] && touch $MYFILE

echo '#/bin/sh' >> $MYFILE
echo 'exec cmd /C "set PATH=`cat ~/mypath.win` && `basename $0`"' >> $MYFILE

echo "${BINDIR}/$MYFILE created"
}

for CMD in `echo $PATH | sed 's/:/ /g' | awk '{ print $0 }'`
do
for EXE in `ls $CMD`; do
echo $EXE | grep -E '.*.bat$' > /dev/null &&
make_wrapper ${CMD}/${EXE} "${BINDIR}/`echo $EXE | sed 's/.bat$//g'`"
done
done

$ ./batmaker.sh
... makes wrapper shell scripts in /dev/fs/P/bin/ for all foo.bat in $PATH

The wrapper scripts this creates look like this:

Terry@SAL1600-$ cat bin/irb
#/bin/sh

exec cmd /C "set PATH=`cat ~/mypath.win` && `basename $0`"

Terry@SAL1600-$

it’s neccessary to set the Windows %PATH% before launch, so it can execute the program — using the path from the invocation environment won’t work, e.g. /dev/fs/P/Devel/Langauges/Ruby/bin/irb in SFU Shells but this woudl translate to CurrentDriveLetter:dev/fs/P/Devel/Langauges/Ruby/bin/irb which won’t work. Note, the program must be executed as P:DevelLanguagesRubybinirb.bat in Windows cmd shell, as that is where it is located on my system.

Fix for problem three:

I modified my ~/.profile from OpenBSD to take care of the $USER and $SHELL issues, which is also nice enough to load my custom initialization file.

$ vi .profile

export TERM HOME
USER=$USERNAME; export USER
SHELL="/dev/fs/P/Utilities/Services_For_UNIX/bin/ksh"; export SHELL

echo "Waiting for screen repaint...."
sleep 2
echo 'Korn power !!!'

ENV=${HOME}/.${USER}_shrc

I set the path to the physical rather then the /bin/ksh ‘shorty’ in SFU, so that if I later find any compatibility issues, I can always work around it ‘specifically’ if necessary.

I’m not sure if it is a problem with the Console2-Devel build I’ve installed or with how SFU’s korn shell expects to run. But a few seconds after startup the prompt disappears as if from a ‘clear’, giving any I/O that results in a line being drawn causes a fix. Since I haven’t figured this part out yet, I’ve just ‘side stepped’ the problem. It takes roughly the amount of time to sleep and echo the message before I am returned to my prompt. A quick parse of my $ENV and we’re ready to rock and all the output on the Console tab is from my ${USER}_shrc file.

I copied an old version of initialization file and made a quick edit. In the file I check for the systems unix name and use it to record the operating system type. The Services For UNIX subsystem still identifies itself as ‘Interix’ even though it’s been under Microsoft’s thumb for a bit.


case `uname -s` in
'FreeBSD') isFreeBSD=1
LSCOLORS='CxGxxxxxBxexExcxdx'; export LSCOLORS
;; # FreeBSD
'OpenBSD') isOpenBSD=1;;
'NetBSD') isNetBSD=1;;
'Linux') isLinux=1;;
'Unix') isUnix=1;;
'Interix') isUnix=1;isSFU=1;;
esac

I want to make a few changes to my shrc, but I don’t think they will work *properly* with SFU. My shrc file also pulls in a local ‘extension’ of itself, called ~/.site_shrc that makes things specific to the current system, for example adding the TexLive binaries to my $PATH on FreeBSD and noting the IP address or doing things that won’t work in the shells/v7sh that I use for testing. It looks like I’m going to have to write a site_shrc for Windows hahaha !!!

There’s more then one way to skin a cat, and this bloody hoge-podge of an operating system ain’t gonna best me !!! I will have a decent CLI interface if I’ve got to invoke a hex editor…

Spiders on a roll

Finally some time to catch up on my LJ, if I can keep my family at bay long enough to type anything meaningful >_>

Got off to a semi-early start, last night I was fairly wasted from the days ops and dropped off to sleep very quickly, all concepts of work largely forgotten until morning. Had to stop off today, Ma decided to upgrade cell phones, her new Motoorola W490 is quite nice. I don’t particularly care much for cell phone though.

So far SAL1600 is 90% of fully operational, I’ve only had minor problems. One, my mic doesn’t work and the sound drivers are pretty shitty, but on the upside seem to be much more stable then the older ones. Maybe my jokes were right after all, WHQL just means it’s certified to suck and help crash your system. I was warned when installing the newest ones from the manufactor, that they weren’t WHQL certified or what not, no biggy for me, because I know what kinda horse shit the company usually passes off for audio drivers lol. I really wish there was something like the Open Sound System for Windows, alas Windows sound technology is probably a good system. The only problem is, drivers!

Another issue is my Flock profile, I think it’s probably a paths issue. On the old box Flock was installed into it’s standard path of %ProgramFiles%Flock (e.g. C:Program FilesFlock) and my profile in %AppData%FlockBrowserProfiles… where %AppData% was formally “C:Documents and SettingsOwnerApplication Data”. On my new install, everything is installed into a ‘category’ folder in P:, e.g. P:GamesRavenShield, P:NetworkBrowsersFlock. And likewise my use profile is in U:Terry. It’s been somewhat problematic getting Windows to agree with me on such, especially the brain dead idea of it trying to copy a huge DVD sized ISO in U:TerryDesktop to C:Documents and SettingsTerryDesktop and bloating my C drive out. Maybe it is just my not knowing the management programs in Windows as well as UNIX or Windows XP is just totally brain damaged by design, I hope the latter but expect it is the former…

The software is willing but Windows is not so cooperative ^_^

The system has however been quite stable of late, pardoning IE7 crashing and a few other paths issues with my profile. I’ve also taken to having a cmd.exe window open on my second monitor most of th day. I find the DOS-inherited commands to be very child like and overly clumsy compared to any BSD or GNU/Linux based system I’ve used. The whole ruckus between copy, xcopy, and robocopy commands/programs on Windows is a nuts, I’ll never understand it… Not after having lived with /bin/cp so long.

I managed to get into TG#1 for some games today, training with Nick, Caern, and Ez. It seems that I’ve taken care of a fair bot of training arrangements lately, all part of an evil plan of course…. Muahuahauah !!! Who knows, maybe this aging war horse will get to see more action soon 😉

Abort, Retry, Ignore — not !!!

Windows XP is about 5% and still going strong on the game machine. Really, if I didn’t need RvS and SWAT 4, I wouldn’t even have XP on that machine lol…. My only dependency on Micro$oft is an OS that supports games –> I generally dislike console games.

0/ My current plan of action is to conduct the reformat/reinstall of XP.

1/ Verify that the S.O.B. boots… Install core drivers (GPU, Wifi)

2/ Strip her naked — remove the “pre-installed” software and trial-ware, e.t.c.

3/ Boot into Knoppix Linux (LiveCD) and sort the partitions according to plan

4/ Install FreeBSD 7.0-Release and boot into it

5/ NFS mount the setup data from the file server (Vectra) and copy it to a shared FAT32 partition on SAL1600 (games machine).

6/ Boot into Windows XP MCE and install SP3

7/ Reboot and configure core system elements (e.g. get her on the network, behind a firewall, and setup the environment)

8/ Install software in the predefined order into the predefined locations, making adjustments as needed.

10/ Restore data from backups

11/ Customize her to the hilt: full command line environment; development tools, dual-monitors, desktop layout, etc.

XP is almost up to 40% already,so hopefully I can get started on the real work soon. Reinstall is easy, getting a working PC is a diff’rent story. So far everything is going smooth, and is probably planned out as good as a NASA mission ;-). Hehe, I’ve even got many of the firewall settings already prepaired. Hmm, I guess it is just fun to rip stuff apart and put it back together a better way at times.

I hope to have SAL1600 back online before morning, and with luck time to post a advance notice of training ops on TG#1… I’d like to reserve the server for a change if I can lol.

I’ve been prepping my destop for a reformat, including taking backups and prepairing software for reinstallation.

After presenting the choice of, A/ either I finish this or B/ I’m not going to work tomorrow until _after_ it is done; has finally cut the “!@#$%ing go to bed” shoutings to a more subdued amount. I can’t stand being told when to go to bed, not by someone that does not know my body the way I do, and has such disregard for the amount of shit I need to get done, plus:

If you’re going to help make my life hell, I’m not gonna be obligated to listen too a damn thing you say.

I’ve got almost 5gb of files; mostly installers, on the way to my file server. Basically everything from Abiword to zip.exe is laid out and ready for installation. So with luck, I can reformat the piece of shit… Setup a quick dual boot, mount the backups and copy them over to a FAT32 partition; install my drivers, install SP3, install my software, and setup the system. I’ve also taken the liberty of making a few change: more development tools and TeX Live 2007 for the type setting environment. I usually try to avoid compiling anything from source under Windows, like the plague. In my opinion, it really is that much of a pain in the ass… I do however like the toolchains around for my own use.

Under unix based systems, I don’t mind compiling from source as long as I’m given something *decent* to work with. Like something that actually builds on a standard system without mucking with it, rather then a piece of crap that is only easy to build on the developers Foo Linux machine lol.

I need to fetch my XP disks, mouse driver disk, and wifi driver disk. But all in all, it shouldn’t be to bad to carry this out. Just that it will probably take 6-8 hours and over a dozen reboots…. Oh man, how I love FreeBSD — a reboot typically means a new kernel to boot from. Much less then that, and I’ve never had to reboot my systems (with the exception of one sound driver that needs to be in loader.conf)

Tomorrow is likely to be another day of … Hmm, I can’t actually think of a word for it, that doesn’t stretch into multi-word profanities. But at least I *should* get off work at a decent hour. Today, I ended up leaving around ~1600Q or so. I can’t stand my life, but there isn’t a lot I can do to change it.

Since I’m not about to keel over and die, and resulting to quite drastic measures is further then I’m willing to go.

Internet Whiteboards

http://www.twiddla.com/ –> no java
http://www.scriblink.com/ –> java but nice ui

Special thanks to [SAS]_Sgt_Medic.

I think I can use these for a few meetings in the future lol.

Days log

I think I ended up walking around the grocery store more then coding… As soon as I was found wide awake. That generally proved to be a wash out, at lest I got some of the menial work done on the current module. Why on earth I’m working through things in the same order as the flow chart, I dunno… Maybe because it saves the easy work for the end lol.

Managed to *eventually* make it into Training Grounds #1 to work with Jonsi. Pardoning 3 r 4 people and a website to deal with, training chatter with the NCOs, making like an omni-present on 3 forums, and the like. Once we finally got ready op for the training, we got delayed by more people joining, and NCOs out to do some synchronization, to the point that Jonsi was only there for about 10 minute lol. Several hours later of drillin’ with NCO/Rct/CO I’m like, “I stopped N hours ago but no one noticed” haha. We did have some good training though.

I also managed to feed my interest in computers, inhaling some information about the old ENIAC or Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer, the German Z3, and the British code breaking Colossus computers. As well as wishing that I could visit the Deutsches Museum, because a replica of the Z3 is supposed to be there in München :-).

What can I say, I love computers lol.

Crud… After 0400 already and still not finished with everything :

Oh well, at least I had time to inhale a bit of GnuPG hehe.

Burned my 3rd coaster ever :

Maybe I should just not be lazy and fire up my laptop so I can burn the disk with cdrecord. For one reason or another, burning CD-Rs with Nero Express 6 seems to get pissy if I don’t verify data properly. If this burn session fails, I’ll just have to open a new pack of CD-R and use my laptop.

I need to get a PC-BSD test machine set up for some work, so it helps to not have to have to wait on patches to install. My previous disk set was v1.5.0, the current PC-BSD release is v1.5.1 + auto updates. Since my test machine is also my regular desktop, she has dual monitors. I’ve spent some time reading through various X.Org manual pages and it looks like it should be fairly easy to get things set up the way I like it, pardoning any KDE issues I guess. Once I’ve got the monitors sorted out, I can get started hehe.

I can’t help but wonder though, how much fun it might be to take one PC, a couple monitors, graphics cards, mice, and keyboards. And experiment with concurrent users running X sessions. As far as I know, the only limitations involved are PC related. X seems to be fully capable of it, Unix like systems are more then capable of multiple users and the design of X follows suit. Why does all of this thinking make me wish I had more equipment to play with >_>